


The other side of Emma Swan

by ICantThinkOfADecentUsername



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Non-Sexual Age Play
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-07 16:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6812362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ICantThinkOfADecentUsername/pseuds/ICantThinkOfADecentUsername
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When SHIELD makes it's presence known to Emma Swan, a familiar face is brought back into her life. </p><p>How will Snow react to finding out she isn't the only woman Emma sees as a mother? How will both her parents react to finding out there is another, much more fragile side to their daughter? How will Emma feel about that other side coming back out again?</p><p> </p><p>The relationships tagged are non-sexual. Will contain age play.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. SHIELD arrives in Storybrooke

The family had a sneaking suspicion that they were being watched. They never actually saw somebody. It was just a peculiar feeling. Hairs standing on end on the back of their neck. An unsettling feeling in their stomachs. The family just put it down to the amount of times they’d had run ins with villains, or the massive amount of villains that were still to be defeated left in Storybrooke. They shook the thoughts from their heads and carried on with their lives, not even mentioning to each other that they thought they were being watched. Had they brought it up, they would have known that everyone else in the family felt the same way. They might have known it wasn’t just paranoia. They might have known that they had every right to feel uneasy. They might have been less surprised when a cool as a cucumber Phillip Coulson showed up at the Charmings’ front door. 

Snow had answered. She didn’t recognise the balding middle aged man, which was her first sign that something was wrong. Strangers didn’t just turn up in Storybrooke. He smiled politely at her. 

“Snow White?” He asked. She nodded, keeping a tense position at the door. “My name is Phillip Coulson, but you can call me Phil. I was wondering if I could come in and we could have a talk?”

“This isn’t a good time.” Snow replied simply. 

“This won’t take too much of your time.” Phil responded merrily. “To be honest with you, Your Highness, you aren’t who I’m here to speak to. I’m here to speak to Emma.” 

“Just what do you want with Emma?” Snow snapped, immediately going into her defensive mode. Phil pulled out his SHIELD badge and flashed it at Snow. “Government business, Your Highness. Emma will understand, working for the force and all. I assure you, I mean your daughter no harm.” Phil promised her. Snow could see that this man was entering her house one way or the other. She figured it was better to let him in on her grounds.

“Ok. You may speak with Emma. However, her father and I will be present at all times or you walk away.” Snow told him firmly. Phil nodded once more.

“I would expect nothing else.” 

“Emma, Charming.” Snow called behind her without looking away from Phil. “Come down to the living room, please. We have a guest that wants to speak to Emma.” 

*

 

By the time Charming and Emma came in, Snow and Phil were already settled in the front room. Phil sat on a lonely armchair whilst Snow sat at the far end of the couch. Charming could tell by the fact he’d been asked down in the first place, that Snow was still sitting here and the way she was staring the man down that she did not like him at all. So by extension, neither did he. Charming sat strategically on the other side of the couch, leaving Emma to sit between them. Phil didn’t reach out his hand to shake Emma’s, fearing someone might try and cut it off. Sure, he would have theirs off before they could do him any damage, but it would leave a bit of a bad impression.

“Hello Emma, my name is Phil.” He greeted her. Emma nodded in return, not wanting to speak to the man when her parents very clearly didn’t trust him. “I won’t beat around the bush, I believe you to be a cooperative person who will understand what I’m doing here today. I work for the government, Emma. I specific branch called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. Or, SHIELD for short. I’m here today because I know that you are special, Emma. I know that you possess amazing abilities because you come from another realm. All of you do. The thing is, the Government needs to keep tabs on people who are special. Just to make sure their powers don’t become…a problem. All I’m here to do today is get your written consent to some monitoring…”

“And if she refuses?” Charming growled. He didn’t like the idea of his daughter basically being spied on. Phil looked him dead in the eye.

“There are other ways, Your Highness. Ways I don’t like going down.” Charming and Snow’s hands tightened into fists. It didn’t seem like Emma was being given much of a choice. Emma shook her head. She didn’t like this either.

“I haven’t done anything wrong.” She said coldly. “You can’t just march in here and demand my consent to be marked. It’s against my rights…”

“Technically, Miss Swan, the rights you’re referring to are for humans from this world. You are not actually from this world…”

“Watch it.” Charming snapped. “Emma has those rights, I don’t care that she’s from the Enchanted Forest. She’s lived here all her life and you’re not going to demand that because of her magic that she has to have the government watching every move. Have we made ourselves clear?” Phil sighed. There was one hope left to do this the nice way. He pulled up a walkie talkie to his mouth. 

“You were right. She refused. Do you want to try and convince her?” There was no reply, but Phil knew his partner had heard him, and knew her silence meant she was straight on her way from The Bus to the Charmings’ home. Snow, Charming and Emma were now on edge and ready for a fight, but Phil held his palm up.

“It’s alright.” He said calmly. “I have taken no further action as of yet. I just radioed my partner who is at our ship. She’ll just talk to you like I did and try to help you see our side.” He explained. The Charmings didn’t ease up. He could easily be lying. 

Their nerves only increased when they heard the front door open. Snow and Charming couldn’t believe the nerve that she would just let herself in. They could feel their heartbeats speed up tenfold as Phil’s partner entered the living room and came over standing beside the chair Phil was on. Emma gasped, resulting in her parents looking at her…did she know this woman? The stranger smiled and held her arms out.

“Well aren’t you going to say hello, sweetheart?” Snow and Charming were now very confused. The confusion only confused when Emma leapt off the couch and into this woman’s arms. Snow felt something fiery surge in her stomach as she watched them hug. It wasn’t like friends, and nor was it like lovers, or former lovers. It wasn’t like a sisterly hug, no, the only person who ever hugged Emma like that was Snow. The way this woman stroked one hand through Emma’s blonde waves. The way she used her other hand to rub small circles on Emma’s back. All the while gently rocking with Emma, whilst Emma resting her head in the crook of this woman’s neck.

“M-May.” Emma stammered, as though she had wanted to call her something else. “I’ve missed you.”

“I know, sweetie. I’ve missed you too.” Snow and Charming were in complete shock. Who was this May, and just how exactly did she know Emma?


	2. Secrets revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family set off on the Bus where they meet the entire SHIELD crew. There seems to be something off about Skye that Snow can't help but relate to, but why? Secrets will be stumbled upon, but what will the outcome be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter. Feel free to let me know what you want to happen and I'll do my best to add it in :)
> 
> For ease of writing, Emma's little brother does not exist in this story.

The hug seemed to last a lot longer than the average friendly hug would too. It was clear Phil was trying not to show it, but he thought something was different about this situation too. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. Snow and Charming weren’t happy with this at all. There was one crucial detail they felt Emma was forgetting.

“Emma, you may have known this woman in the past, but it’s clear she’s working for this SHIELD now. How do you know she wasn’t working for them when she knew you too? How do you know she wasn’t setting you up to take you down?” Snow pointed out, staring down May angrily. Emma had to admit that her mother had a point. She pulled out of the hug.

“There is a bit of truth in that.” She admitted. “It wasn’t so long ago that we knew each other, not really. Were you working for SHIELD when you knew me?” Emma asked her directly. The way agent May sighed gave Emma her answer. May quickly reached out and placed a hand on Emma’s cheek, an action that sent a firing inferno going in Snow’s stomach. She wanted to march across and slap May’s hand away, but she restrained herself. Just. 

May looked deep into Emma’s eyes. She knew how important the truth was to Emma, and she knew Emma could sniff out any hint of a lie. May had no intention of lying to the poor girl. She was owed the truth. 

“Emma, I was working for SHIELD when we knew each other, but I was on a bit of a break. They had no idea we were in contact. Or if they did, they didn’t care. Not back then. You haven’t been on their radar until very recently. Not until you went to Camelot.” May explained. It made sense now. Emma wasn’t considered a threat until she became the Dark One. Unlike the former (and now current again) Dark One, Emma could travel this realm with no magical help. Which made her more of a threat in the government’s eyes. “When I heard they were sending a team to come get you I insisted it be us. I knew you would need some convincing. Emma, I assure you, you’ll be gone two weeks tops. It’s clear you’re not a threat. The guys at base just want to make sure we can find you. It’s protection for you as well…”

“We can protect Emma pretty well already thanks.” Charming butted in coldly. He didn’t like how simple this May was making everything sound. “She doesn’t need twenty four-seven surveillance from the government to be protected.” Phil scoffed, earning him daggers from both Snow and Charming.

“Sorry, but don’t you think we have better things to do than monitor a low level risk all hours of the day? May’s right. The tracking is a precaution for the unlikely event we’ll need to track Emma down. She spends all her time here anyway, and we see limited cause for concern. This is just standard procedure to be on the safe side.”

“You can even bring your parents with you.” May suggested. It seemed the easiest solution to keeping the peace. “That is, if it’s alright with all of you?” 

“Yes.” Snow and Charming said together as Emma nodded gratefully. May moved her hand from Emma’s face to her hand and squeezed it gently.

“I am so glad that you found them in the end. Though they’re a little different than how you ever thought they’d be huh?” May joked, making Emma laugh. Snow and Charming stood uncomfortably. This woman had in-jokes with their daughter too? 

“When do we leave?” Charming asked.

“Right now.” Phil responded. “We’re not in the habit of dilly dallying.” Emma stepped back from May and looked at Coulson. 

“There’s someone I need to say goodbye to first.” She said. She looked back to May. “My son. I found him. Well, he found me. He’s here. He’s called Henry. His adoptive mother and I have an arrangements of sorts…” Phil scoffed.

“That’s one Hell of an arrangement.” He responded sarcastically. Everyone- including May- gave him disapproving glances. He shrugged his shoulders, but let Emma get on with it. May smiled and nodded. Again, she understood. Emma walked back to her parents.

“I’ll meet you back here in twenty minutes, tops. Can you pack a bag for me?” She asked. Snow nodded eagerly, finally, something the other woman couldn’t do. 

“Of course honey. I’ll put in your favourite sweater.” Snow said, showing off slightly. “And, well, you know…” Snow mouthed the word ‘blanket’. Again, something she knew about.

“Oh, you managed to keep hold of that thing?” May said. “I thought you might have lost it by now.” Snow’s face fell. So she knew about the blanket.

“Nah, I’m pretty careful with that.” Emma responded as she put her jacket on. “See you in twenty minutes.” She called behind her as she left the four remaining adults in an awkward silence. 

*

Emma returned from her goodbye to Henry in twenty minutes as promised.

“Ok, I kept my end of the deal.” Emma said, more to Agent Coulson than anyone else. “Now you need to keep yours. I promised my son we won’t be away any longer than two weeks. So I except to be home when a fortnight is up.” Phil nodded.

“Provided you cooperate, Miss Swan, there is no reason why we shouldn’t have you back for that deadline.” Charming and Snow both shot Coulson another dangerous look each. That was too threatening for their liking. Even Agent May seemed to be giving him a subtle warning to tone down the way he spoke to Emma by her own look. 

Coulson and May showed the family to The Bus, which was situated in the middle of the forest. The group were mesmerised by the tech filled plane. They were quite sure this plane had the ability to wipe out an entire army if it had to. They were shown to their tiny rooms- or ‘pods’ as they were apparently known- to dump their stuff before being shown to the main living space where they met the rest of the crew. Two techs named Fitz and Simmons and another agent named Skye. She seemed quite sullen at their arrival. Snow seemed to feel like she empathised with the young woman, although she wasn’t quite sure why. They ate dinner together, awkwardly making small talk and answering questions that Coulson didn’t deem “classified”. Emma excused herself before dessert, which was most unlike her. She claimed she was exhausted and just needed a lie down. She made it quite clear to both her parents that she didn’t want to be disturbed. Not wanting to rattle her (and also wanting to keep an eye on Coulson) they respected her wishes. Only later that night when Snow could not sleep did she wander through to find Emma in her pod. She stopped outside when she heard more than one voice coming from within. 

“I really did miss you.” She heard Emma whisperer. Snow moved just close enough to be able to see who her daughter was talking to, although she had a gut feeling she already knew. She was correct, Agent May was on the bed beside Emma. Emma had her head on May’s chest as May stroked through her blonde waves. She pressed a small kiss to Emma’s crown.

“I missed you too, sweetheart. Very much. I tried a couple of years ago to find you again to see if you were alright, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. Now I see why.” May said with a laugh which Emma returned. Snow couldn’t believe how close the pair seemed. How was it this woman could get Emma to talk about her feelings so easily when it was like pulling teeth for Snow to get her to talk about how she felt or show emotion? “Do you need any of your special stuff? When I knew you’d be coming back with us I brought some of the stuff you left behind in case you wanted it on this trip.” May asked her. Snow was confused. What was she referring to? Emma shook her head and buried it further into May’s chest.

“No.” She whimpered. “No want them to see. Just in case they no like. They think I’m…I’m…”

“Shh. It’s alright. I’m sure they wouldn’t think anything of it, but if you don’t want any of it tonight that’s fine. Do you want me to stay?” Emma nodded. 

“Just till early. No want them to see. They’ll think…you know…” Snow couldn’t quite get over how young Emma sounded. She’d never heard Emma speaking like this.

“You’re worried they’ll think we’re an item? Oh Emma.” May laughed again. “But I’ll be up early to train anyway so that’s fine sweetie. I’ll stay. You sleep. You’ve had a lot to deal with tonight. Love you honey.”

“Love you too, mommy.” Snow had to cover her mouth to stop herself from gasping. Emma had said she had known May not too long ago, so that meant she couldn’t have been one of Emma’s foster parents. Slowly, Snow began to place the pieces together. Emma said she didn’t want ‘them’ to find out. She wasn’t referring to May’s crew, she was referring to her and Charming. She was worried they would think less of her because of this relationship she had with May. Snow thought she had a rough idea of what their relationship was now. It was a mother and daughter relationship Emma had with May before she met her real mother. One that allowed Emma to revert back to the little girl who just wanted her mommy to love her. How could Emma feel like Snow would love her any less for that? Or that she wouldn’t want to be able to give Emma what she needed in their relationship? She would bring the subject up with Emma, but not until tomorrow. Tonight, she would let Emma sleep. Even if it did mean allowing another woman to fulfil her mothering duties. She would let it slide tonight. Snow went to turn back to head back to her pod and explain everything to Charming when she saw something that nearly made her scream. There, standing at the other end of the corridor, was Skye. She had the same look in her eyes, but now Snow knew why she empathised with her. Skye was clearly just as jealous of the relationship between May and Emma as Snow was.


	3. Opening up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Skye and Emma find themselves in vulnerable situations.

May knew something was up with Skye when she didn’t come through for her goodnight cuddle. Skye never missed any of them. So May went through to her pod instead. She found Skye curled up on her bed facing the wall. May had been trained well enough to know that Skye was only pretending to be sleeping. She went over to Skye’s bed and lay beside her. She brushed some hair behind her ear.

“You didn’t come through for your cuddle.” May whispered, her hand coming round Skye’s front to cover her own hand.

“I did.” Skye mumbled back. May heard her sniffle. Had she been crying? “You were with her.” Now May understood. She hadn’t actually told Skye she had known Emma prior to the mission for this very reason. She understood that Skye was vulnerable and needy from her upbringing, she actually had more in common with Emma than she might care to believe. “You don’t want me anymore. You have someone new.” Her voice was becoming steadily younger sounding, alerting May to how vulnerable she was feeling. 

“Hey.” May whispered. She first reached behind her into the top drawer, where May knew Skye kept most of her ‘little time’ things. She felt around the drawer until her hand found the soft material of Skye’s teddy bear, Buba. May could tell Skye was in a phase somewhere around a pre-schooler, so she didn’t want to go in too deep. She brought the teddy round and put it in Skye’s hands, letting her know it was ok to let her guard down. “I will always want you in my life, sweetheart. For as long as you want me. Yes, I knew Emma a long time ago and maybe I should have prepared you for a possible reunion. But I didn’t know how Emma was going to react to seeing me again. She might have wanted to forget about me since she found her real parents. But I’m sorry, I should have told you. Yes, Emma will probably want to see more of me now, but that doesn’t mean I won’t make sure you and I have some time together for you to be you, ok?”

“Kay mama.” Skye murmured back, feeling safer. She smiled as May started to run her fingers through her hair. “Mama stay?” She asked. She still wanted a bit of extra assurance that May wasn’t going to up and leave her for Emma. May didn’t mind, she understood. If Skye required a bit of extra time with her so she remembered that May still loved her even with Emma in the picture again that was fine by May. 

 

The next morning, Snow and Charming were still troubled that Emma hadn’t trusted them with that side of herself. They loved her no matter what. Snow especially was struggling. She and she alone was Emma’s mommy. She couldn’t help but feel slightly possessive of her baby. So they went together into Emma’s pod before breakfast to speak with her.

“Hey guys.” Emma greeted them. “Sleep well?” Snow smiled and nodded. She sat down at the end of Emma’s bed with Charming standing behind her. Snow reached out and took Emma’s hand.

“I couldn’t sleep for a while last night because I was worried about you.” Snow began. “I didn’t know how you were taking all this so I thought I’d come through here to check on you…I heard you in here with May last night.” Emma froze. Her eyes widened in horror. She had worked so hard to hide this side of herself from them, now one day back with May and she let slip. This was it. They were going to tell her she was a freak and they wanted to go back home, and to never see her again. Charming could see that Emma was panicking. He quickly moved so he was crouching at the side of her bed.

“Emma, it’s alright.” He assured her. He took both her hands in his. “Calm down for me honey. Nice deep breaths.” Emma nodded, but it took her a few minutes before she could get her breathing under control again. When Charming was sure Emma was calm, he continued. “We don’t mind.” He gently assured her. “We understand that growing up wasn’t always easy for you, and we’re glad you found a way to combat that.” He told her. Snow moved forward and rested her hand on top of Charming’s. 

“But now that we know, honey, we want to say one thing.” Emma tensed up again. “We regret putting you through that wardrobe every single day. If we could go back and do it all again, we would never have done it, but we did, and this is the result. We missed getting to see you grow up Em, and it hurts. What I’m really getting at is…your dad and I wondered if this was a side of yourself you were willing to share with us.”


	4. Making a decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma's parents are waiting for an answer, can she trust them with this side of her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...it's been a while. I'm afraid I can't promise regular posting with this story. TBH, I don't know where it's going at all. I will, however, post whenever I can. Hope you're still enjoying!

That had been one reaction Emma hadn’t been prepared for. They accepted this side of her so quickly? Emma was so sure they were just messing with her…except they weren’t. She could see it in their eyes. They were genuinely eager to experience her little side. But where to begin? It wasn’t as simple as having a “little Emma”. There were lots of different stages and mixes depending on how Emma was feeling. Maybe that’s what was best to start with. Maybe Emma could work backwards. Show them her oldest little self who could at least communicate her feelings and wishes. But she couldn’t make the decision alone. She had to talk it through with May. She would be able to tell Emma if this was a stupid decision. 

Snow couldn’t deny that she was still jealous when she saw Emma going into May’s little room to have a secret little meeting. She still hadn’t given her parents any definite answer on sharing her little side with them. It wasn’t fair. They were her actual parents. Surely they deserved to see Emma in a younger mindset than some stranger. Snow fought hard to keep her jealousy at bay. Emma would never trust them if she lost her temper now. 

Meanwhile, Emma explained her predicament to May and her possible solution. May sat back and thought everything through.

“It doesn’t have to mean I can’t spend some little time with you, though.” Emma said quietly. “I don’t mind splitting my time.” May smiled. She knew Emma was worried she would feel hurt at Emma willing to let her parents in.

“I think it’s only fair since you’re sharing me with Skye now.” May pointed out. “You’ve always had good judgement, Emma. If you think your parents are seriously willing to try this and be sensitive, then I think your idea sounds good. Show them your little girl self and gradually work it back. It will give you all a chance to adjust to the new relationships…you know it will change your relationships with them, right? I know it’s part of why you want to do it, but you need to prepare yourself for it. Even as an adult, it means accepting they’re in charge more. Just like you had to with me. Are you ready to give that level of trust?” Emma thought about it. She loved her parents, she truly did. What’s more, she knew that they loved her. It wasn’t often in her life Emma said that. So slowly, she nodded. May smiled, squeezing Emma’s hand. “Then you have your answer, sweetheart. I know your little drawers are separated into ages anyway. Do one drawer of things at a time. It will be new for them. Be patient, as they have to be with you. Don’t expect them to get things straight away. They’ll be new parents, in a sense.” May reminded her. Emma sighed nervously. She looked back at the closed door. She knew her parents wouldn’t be too far away. They’d been waiting for her to give them a proper answer. Now it was time to give it. Emma wasn’t sure she’d ever felt this nervous. May never asked, May just knew. She supposed her parents did too, they just didn’t want to spook her or step on May’s toes. Now it was time. Emma could let them in. She just hoped it didn’t ruin everything she’d waited so hard to find.


End file.
